Helen Putz Chadey, 96, passed away on February 26, 2026, at her home in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was the widow of Henry Frank Chadey. They shared 46 years of marriage.
She was born on July 25, 1929, in Rock Springs, Wyoming, to Slovenian immigrants John Putz and Johanna Starman Putz and was the youngest of their nine children. She graduated from Rock Springs High School and the University of Wyoming. She was a dedicated schoolteacher and taught in Michigan and Wyoming.
Helen was a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Community, the Wyoming Retired Teachers Association, the Sweetwater County Historical Society, the Wyoming Historical Society, and the Kappa Delta Alumnae Chapter. She greatly enjoyed baking, knitting, reading, historical treks, socializing with friends and family, volunteering, and exercising. Helen was a committed educator, mother and grandmother, friend, spouse, daughter, and will be remembered for her humor, wit, selflessness, and practicality.
She is survived by her children, Katherine Chadey (Robert Lien), Mary Johanna Chadey, Jeanne Chadey Babcock; her daughter-in-law, Lynne Chadey Peabody (Mark Peabody); her grandchildren, Joseph Gillespie (Julie Moran), Amelia Gillespie Santa (Brent Santa), Michael Lien, Alexandra Babcock, John Chadey (Christina Chadey), Katherine Babcock, Thomas Lien, Wm Dane DeKrey (Leah DeKrey), Erin DeKrey Spann; numerous nieces and nephews; and special friends Donna and Brad DeKrey. She was preceded in death by her husband, Henry Frank Chadey; her son, Michael Frank Chadey; and her son-in-law, Warren Wood Babcock III.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be conducted at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 2, 2026 at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, 116 Broadway Street, Rock Springs, Wyoming. Graveside services and inurnment will be in Rock Springs Municipal Cemetery.
Donations can be made in Helen’s honor at The National ALS Association, www.als.org or the Rock Spring Historical Museum, Attention Jennifer Messer, 201 B Street, Rock Springs, WY 82901. www.rswy.net.
